Tamarind & Saffron: Favourite Recipes from the Middle East - Softcover

Roden, Claudia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140466940 ISBN 13: 9780140466942

Publisher: Penguin, 2000

Synopsis

Become captivated by Claudia Roden's middle eastern delights in Tamarind & Saffron.

"I don't think there's a recipe I don't want to cook in TAMARIND & SAFFRON" Nigella Lawson

Aubergines in a spicy honey sauce; baby onions in tamarind; sweet jewelled rice; and saffron caramel cream. These are just some of the sumptuous recipes in Claudia Roden's collection of new and updated recipes, suffused with all the heat, spice and sensual aromatics of the Middle East.

Claudia Roden's Book of Middle Eastern Food (1968) was written for readers who had never eaten an aubergine, let alone cooked one. Today, Middle Eastern foods are enjoying amazing popularity, largely thanks to Roden's books. In Tamarind and Saffron, Claudia Roden has brought together a fresh collection of recipes for this new generation of cooks, illustrated throughout with luscious photography.

Praise for Claudia Roden:

'Claudia Roden is no more a simple cookbook writer than Marcel Proust was a biscuit baker. She is, rather, memorialist, historian, ethnographer, anthropologist, essayist, poet ...' Simon Schama

'Every one of Claudia's books introduced us to a delicious new world' Sam and Sam Clarke 'Roden's great gift is to conjure up not just a cuisine but the culture from which it springs' Nigella Lawson

'Claudia Roden's writing has the fascination of her conversation. Her books are treasure-houses of information and mines of literary pleasures' Observer

As well as writing cookbooks and presenting cooking shows on the BBC, Claudia Roden is also a cultural anthropologist based in the United Kingdom. Born and brought up in Cairo, she finished her education in Paris before moving to London to study art. With the publication of her bestselling classic, A Book of Middle Eastern Food in 1968, Claudia Roden revolutionized Western attitudes to the cuisines of the Middle East. Since then she has published nine other books, including the award winning classic, The Book of Jewish Food, and has won no fewer than six Glenfiddich awards for her writing. Her other books include Arabesque, A Book of Middle Eastern Food, The Food of Italy, Mediterranean Cookery and The Food of Spain.

About this title

Review:

The ravishing cover of Tamarind and Saffron, brilliant yellow quinces in a blue-glazed dish, hints at the pleasures within its covers. Claudia Roden has subtitled the book "Favourite Recipes from the Middle East", and it is no more and no less than this. Eschewing the broad historical and geographical panorama that so enriched The Book of Jewish Food, she concentrates solely on the food, putting together a collection of recipes from the Middle East that are light, fresh, delicious and immensely evocative. The enticing aromas of North Africa rise from its pages, expressed in the differing spice-dialects of the national cuisines--the coriander, cinnamon, cumin, honey, orange-blossom water, preserved lemon, mint. The dishes range from the simplest of mezze to elaborate feast dishes but there is nothing that is remotely difficult. At the minimalist end of the scale, "Squid with Garlic and Chillies" is just that--the three briefly fried together; "Artichokes, Broad Beans and Almonds" combines unexpected ingredients to exquisite effect; and the Quince Dessert simply poaches the fruit in a light syrup, allowing its magical flavour to predominate. More demanding dishes include the spectacular " Pigeons Stuffed with Cous cous", the very elegant "Turkish Lamb Stew with Aubergine Cream Sauce" and "Roast Leg of Lamb with Meat, Rice and Nut Stuffing" (standing for that grandest of Arab dishes, whole stuffed baby lamb). And then there are the sweet dishes. This is an endlessly fascinating book, its deceptive simplicity masking a profound knowledge of the region's food. Really, as critics tend to say, one could cook from it forever. --Robin Davidson

Synopsis:

This comprehensive cookbook has recipes drawn from many Middle Eastern countries, including Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Algeria and Iran for every occasion, from simple snacks or "mezze" to grand feasts. It also includes classics of Middle Eastern cuisine, little-known regional specialities, homely everyday foods and even special vegetarian dishes. The book is designed to complement Claudia Roden's "A Book of Middle Eastern Food", and should provide an introduction to Middle Eastern cookery for the general reader.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0140466940
• ISBN 13: 9780140466942
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224